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Return of Return to Forever

fdelvecchio

By fdelvecchio
in Keys, Synths & Samplers

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shaktisshadow Newbie

shaktisshadow

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I caught the DEC 5th show in the new Yoshi's in San Francisco. It was amazing! Im a huge Airto fan so thats always treat, but everyuone else was equally amazing. Im also a Hubert Laws fan of his early 70's work and seeing him jam that flute was spectacular. Not to mention he is extremely humble, constantly thanking and reverting attention back to chick, the goof off...although hes not as weird and goofy as airto the comic relief of jazz shows.....You'd just have to see him to understand what I mean. Eddie gomez blew me away. I am a bass player and i was familiar with his work, but seeing him do what he does live was just awesome. I felt lucky to see these world class masters.

 

Oh and chick was pretty good too. Kidding. He had a voyager, his rhodes, 2 moogerfoogers, 2 yamaha synths, and a grand piano. His technical ability never interfered with the emotional quality of his music. He played incredibly. He also played incredibly fast passages that were these long 24-32 bar melody lines. At one point he pulled out the sheet music for one of the old RTF songs.

Anyway, if you can catch the show, check it out. It surpassed my expectations by far.

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heroesforghosts Newbie

heroesforghosts

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I remember seeing their last concert before they called it quits,back in the early-mid 80's,at Berkely Community Theatre.They announced that this was the last time they would play together. The show was fantastic,just the four of them playing their asses off.They all did little solo sections,and had a little session sitting down on the stage in a group playing these little synths and drum machines.At the time I had very little knowledge of synths,but looking back,I think they were of the Roland TB/TR/MC series,like the TB303,MC202-101,TR808.All of them were totally enjoying the show as much as the audience,and it showed,they all had big grins on their faces.It's kind of hard to believe how much music came from these 4 guys.DiMeola,Corea,Clarke,and White,yeah!

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pbognar Newbie

pbognar

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summer 2008....east/west coast in june and europe in july. Possibly cutting a new album in late 2008 and touring the world in 2009....according to Lenny White interview on chick coreas website. cant wait
:thu:

 

What's even more amazing is if it actually happens.

 

I talked to DiMeola after a local seminar like 2 years ago, and he said there were so many times it was about to happen, but then Chick would have a change of heart at the last minute. BUT - the fact that it's up on Chick's web site is positive.

 

I also talked to Corea at a meet and greet back in June/07 at a concert with Bela Fleck, and he said that they were talking. At the time, I thought it was just a nice thing to say - but, it looks like it's going to happen.

 

The day after I talked to Corea, I stumbled on some recollections of the events surrounding the break-up in 1976, and I thought they would never play together again.

 

I've been waiting for this a long time.

 

And I've informed my wife that I'm may be flying to another state if required. But it sounds like they will be video taping the whole thing - so we may, at the very least, see a DVD come out of this!

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pbognar Newbie

pbognar

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summer 2008....east/west coast in june and europe in july. Possibly cutting a new album in late 2008 and touring the world in 2009....according to Lenny White interview on chick coreas website. cant wait
:thu:

 

I think it was in the Chick interview that it was revealed that there would be a NEW RTF CD anthology released, with REMIXED and remastered tunes from "Where Have I Known You Before", "No Mystery", AND "Romantic Warrior".

 

Great - this will be probably my 5th purchase of "Romantic Warrior" tunes. :lol:

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Karma1 Newbie

Karma1

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Wow- this is great news. I saw an early version of RTF back in the 70's before DiMeola. I think it was Bill Connors on guitar. In one of the strangest concert pairings ever, they were opening for Bruce Springsteen and the E St. Band at a college in the Philadelphia area. I still have the ticket stub in a collage I made of old concert tickets. Believe it or not the cost was $2 in advance and $4 at the door. The good old days, indeed.

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pbognar Newbie

pbognar

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http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-ca-return17feb17,0,840371.story

 

CHICK COREA is smiling. In fact, he's beaming. Seated behind his Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboards, arms and hands in motion, kicking out one brisk rhythmic phrase after another, making constant eye contact with the musicians around him -- guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White -- he's obviously feeling great.

 

Wait a minute: Corea, Di Meola, Clarke and White? That's the classic lineup of Return to Forever, one of the groups that defined the jazz-rock fusion of the '70s. They haven't played together in 25 years, swore they'd never have a reunion.

 

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Right. But never say never. (Look at the Eagles). Return to Forever is, well, returning. And last week, the rehearsals were already underway for the RTF reunion tour that undoubtedly will be the big jazz news of the summer.

 

Corea, 66, nods happily, shouts, "Great, great!" then turns back to his instruments, roving blithely across the electric keyboards, emphasizing the crisp clank of the Rhodes, tossing in wisps of slippery sound from his Minimoog. Di Meola adds shimmering electric guitar fills, while Clarke and White dig into the groove, driving the beat forward with muscular percussive textures.

 

A briskly articulated melodic figure from Clarke immediately attracts Corea's attention. He nods his head -- "Yeah!" -- and Clarke picks up the solo thread, responding with his characteristically fluid, mobile, acoustic bass lines.

 

The loose and swinging mood continues, triggering a palpable sense of joy in the room -- the eye contact and spontaneous smiles exchanged by the players visible indications of the music's rich improvisational symbiosis.

 

It's the real deal: Return to Forever, back again -- bringing a 21st century perspective to the visceral blend of rock energy with the improvisation and compositional structures of jazz that made the quartet a phenomenon of the '70s, competing with outfits such as Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra for the favor of both jazz and prog-rock audiences.

 

 

 

'Snowball in hell'

 

RTF's return to action took place in the Mad Hatter Studios on the Los Feliz edge of Hollywood -- a sprawling, well-equipped facility that has been the recording destination of choice for such artists as Prince, Paul McCartney and Beck. Founded by Corea in 1980, it was sold in 2003 to Golden Era Productions, the audio-visual arm of the Church of Scientology, which counts Corea among its members.

 

Corea was clearly delighted to be back in his old digs, which have been considerably remodeled since the studio changed hands. Earlier in the evening, there'd been some playful banter about what to call the Return to Forever tour. If the Eagles 1994 reunion was called "Hell Freezes Over," maybe this constitutes "The Snowball in Hell Tour."

 

Corea, the group's founder, laughingly explained that they'd probably stick with the more mundane "RTF World Tour Summer '08." And stacks of printed T-shirts, emblazoned with the RTF logo (as well as a photo, on the back, of the four members in their younger, more hirsute days) were already in boxes, ready for a pair of tours that will cover the U.S. starting in late May (including a performance at Gibson Amphitheatre) and Europe next year. (An announcement with details is slated for March 3.)

 

 

 

Another important item also had to be jammed into the band's busy schedule at Mad Hatter -- photographs.

 

And here, in an unexpected way, the "Snowball in Hell" reference resurfaced when photographer Lynn Goldsmith called for an offbeat image set-up. Garbed in heavy winter overcoats, positioned around piles of suitcases and instrument boxes, the players assumed their best band-on-the-run poses, their sunglasses registering incongruently with the winter fashion imagery.

 

Goldsmith, darting from one side to another, shouted instructions and encouragement, her camera clicking madly, eager to catch a spirited moment.

 

Most jazz musicians are notoriously uncooperative photo subjects -- when they're not playing their instruments. And the RTF guys were no exception, their lugubrious responses to Goldsmith's commands the polar opposite of the spirit in their music.

 

Word about the upcoming tour had begun to leak out, and the studio was anything but empty. A few people from Corea's management company, various techies adjusting the lighting, Corea's wife, Gayle Moran -- a singer in her own right, who performed in a late-'70s version of Return to Forever -- all watched the photo session closely, each offering an occasional instructive remark.

 

"Tell Chick to take off his glasses," Moran called out, trying to help matters along. Then, to a bystander: "He has such beautiful eyes."

 

Corea flashed her a wan glance.

 

The photo session completed, he seemed much happier taking a break for a chat with the other RTF players and a journalist eager for answers to some fundamental questions: Why this, why now?

 

Responses came quickly. Looking relaxed and not hesitating to be gregarious, they sprawled across a couch and a love seat, often responding with the same quick-witted interplay they had brought to the music.

 

"I made the decision a couple of years ago," Corea said, "to just turn the heat all the way up on live performance. I started resisting going on the road, like you do when you get older -- stop traveling, stay home. But no, man. If I had pursued that way, it was the way downhill to death. No. 1, performing is my bread and butter. But more than that, it's the thing I love doing most."

 

Di Meola noted that there had been a previous attempt at a reunion in 1982. He referred to it, disparagingly, as a "blip."

 

"The reunion lasted a month," he added. "So I like to make it more interesting by saying it's been 30-something years since the last time Return to Forever was together."

 

During those years -- which actually date to the summer of 1974, when Di Meola, then 19, joined Corea, Clarke and White in RTF -- each of the players had moved on with their individual careers.

 

Corea, always overflowing with creative ideas, led his Elektric Band, Akoustic Band and the groups Touchstone and Origin; created dozens of new compositions; recorded Mozart; and occasionally paired up with the likes of Herbie Hancock, B

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Gribs Newbie

Gribs

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Woo-hoo! I hope they make a stop in the Twin Cities.

 

I saw them Circa 1982-83 at the Eastman Theater in Rochester, NY. I waited at the back of the Theater after the show with my drummer buddy that attended the concert with me, and we met the band on their way out. They were very gracious, shook hands, chatted, and signed autographs. I still have my ticket with Al Di Meola's autograph on it.

 

You can see a small mic'd Mesa Boogie amp in the backline in the Vulcan Worlds video, which I think is an original Mark I. I had never heard of Mesa Boogie and all of a sudden they were showing up for oodles of dollars around town, very small, and still weighing a big chunk because of the electrovoice EVM inside with the big-ass magnet. The only guys who could afford them, at least that I saw, were in the good gigging cover bands that played every night at bars, dances, or weddings. I had ordered my Music Man amp (which I owned then and still own) loaded with the same speakers (two of em', it weighs well over 100 lbs!); it was a factory option available. It is a great loud and clean amp but doesn't sing like a cranked Mark I.

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orangefunk Newbie

orangefunk

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I saw a pic of him with a rhodes MkV with a Moog Voyager... I wonder if he'll revert to a more classic set up i.e. Rhodes Mk1 + Mini?

 

I have reservations about Chicks MkV sound (sounds a bit like a rhodes emulation in a digital keyboard at times)... but perhaps thats more to do with how it was EQ'd on his 1990s LPs/CDs...

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